Austrian company Wienerberger, which has 14 plants in the UK, said that it plans to increase its brick production capacity by 200 million bricks before the end of this year, creating 120 new jobs in the process.
Wienerberger will be implementing the capacity increases by bringing factories at Hartlebury and Ewhurst back into action and investing in technology upgrades. It will also supplement UK production by increasing imports.
Managing director Harald Schwarzmayr said: “This capacity increase shows our absolute commitment to ensuring that enough new housing is built to meet the requirements of the market. The UK needs a minimum of 200,000 new homes to be built each year, approximately 35,000 more than will be started in 2014. With our capacity increases equating to approximately 25,000 homes each year, Wienerberger is capable of manufacturing the core material for more than 70% of that extra housing requirement needed.”
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